


The Commune

by Steve4Eva



Category: Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 06:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18424620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steve4Eva/pseuds/Steve4Eva
Summary: It was a dangerous assignment, dangerous for even the most seasoned cop. But McGarrett knew he needed someone much younger, someone whose face was not known, someone who could help catch a possible serial killer. And Steve McGarrett found that fresh new face whom he hoped could do the job - a young Vice Squad officer named Danny Williams.





	1. Chapter 1

The music created rainbow colors that swirled and danced around her as she swayed in time with the beat that flowed through her soul, making her one with the music. She could feel his lips brush against hers, like the soft, gentle wings of a butterfly, as his hands softly caressed her shoulders. She moaned and closed her eyes in eager anticipation as she felt his hands slowly moved up to her neck.

Opening her eyes in confusion, she stared at him through the frightened glazed eyes, unable to scream, unable to even breathe, as the hands around her throat squeezed tighter and tighter. She tried desperately to pull his hands away, to kick, to struggle, to break free but he was just too strong. Her last memory as the darkness engulfed her was the constant bass beat that flowed through her soul, making her one with the music until even the music was gone.

* * *

Reaching for another folder, Kenny Mills looked up as he heard a soft rap on his office door a moment before it opened, and Steve McGarrett poked his head into his office and asked, "Got a couple of minutes, Kenny, for an old friend?"

Grinning as he pushed the folder away, the Vice Squad Lieutenant chuckled as he waved the other man in. "That depends Steve, on whether you remembered that you owe me…"

"A coffee and not from the pot that's been sitting all night," the Five-O lead detective smiled as he opened the door fully and entered the office, carrying two Styrofoam cups. Handing one of the cups to Mills as his smile grew as he sat down on the chair in front of the well-worn wooden desk and announced proudly, "Strong black, no sugar."

"Yeah," Mills nodded, accepting the mug, removing the plastic lid before taking a small sip. Sighing his appreciation of the strong flavored brew, he lowered the cup a little as he looked over the rim, suspiciously at his friend, "Okay Steve, I know that you haven't come all the way down here from the Palace to Vice just for a social visit, so come on, spill, what's up?"

Steve sighed, placing his cup of coffee on the desk, "You're right Kenny, this isn't a social visit, I need your help."

"My help?" Kenny frowned as he placed the coffee cup on the desk in front of him and leaned forward, giving the top cop on all the Hawaiian Islands his full attention. "Of course, Steve, what do you need?"

"I guess you have heard about the murders of several young women whose bodies have all been in or around the north shore of Kauai."

Kenny nodded, "The count is up to four or five so far, isn't it?"

"Six." Steve sighed softly, "All young women, aged between seventeen and twenty- eight, all had various hallucinogenic drugs in their systems, all were last known to be living on Tomlinson's hippie commune and all died from manual strangulation."

"Damn!" Mills murmured, looking down into his coffee cup, as the horror of what his friend was telling him sunk in before he looked back up at Steve.

"That's why I'm here. I need your help, Kenny, to catch this killer before he strikes again." Steve continued quietly.

"Of course, Steve, glad to help anyway we can." Kenny quickly reassured his friend before grabbing a pen to take some notes, "I'll get my guys on this straight away, I'll make it a top priority. Do you think all the girls may have been some of our local working gir-"

"Ahh, no, nothing we have found out about any of the girls have us believing they were working the streets in Honolulu or anywhere but that's not quite the help that I am hoping for, Kenny," Steve interrupted.

Pausing with the pen in mid-air, Kenny frowned, "I don't understand Steve, then what is it that you need?"

"We suspect the murderer is a member of the commune, but the commune members don't trust anyone from the so-called establishment."

"And we are part of the so-called establishment, I guess." Kenny murmured.

Steve nodded. "They're scared and are refusing to co-operate with the investigation. So, I'm hoping that we can use one of your guys to go in undercover. We need someone inside the commune to try and win the trust of some of the members and hopefully help get enough evidence to point us in the direction of a possible suspect. It will have to be someone young, someone who has worked undercover before, someone who will fit into the hippie lifestyle and who isn't well known on the streets yet…"

Kenny nodded in understanding as he held up his hand for Steve to stop as he said, "I think I might have just the guy you are looking for Steve, he's my newest and youngest detective, Danny Williams. He's just turned twenty-five and still a little wet behind the ears, one of these new police university degree kids who are joining the force. He's only been on the job a few months and I managed to snap him up when he joined HPD. He's a local boy, born and raised here, who returned to Hawaii after graduating from Berkeley and I'm glad I took the chance on him. He's bright, real bright and a hell of a quick learner and a fast thinker on his feet and he's just finished an undercover gig that led to the arrest of one of the city's major gambling ring kingpins." A small smile crept onto Kenny's face as he looked past Steve's shoulder and watched the shaggy haired young man, whom he was speaking about, enter the bull pen with his partner. Looking back at Steve, he grinned as he rose to his feet and hurried towards his office door as he added over his shoulder, "And I think when you see him, you will agree that he would fit right into any hippy commune. Let me just call him into the office and let you meet him, I think you will agree that he will be perfect for the role."

* * *

"Oh, come on, Danny, my boy, now would I lie to you? I swear there were two of them and both were fighting over little ol' me!"

Danny Williams laughed, slapping his partner's shoulder as they headed towards the bullpen, "Are you sure that they were fighting over you and not fighting over which one of them could get out of the door the fastest after you said that corny opening line?"

"It wasn't corny!" Matt Loomings protested as they entered the Vice bullpen and headed to their desk, "It's one of my most effective pick-up…"

"Williams! Loomings! So nice both of you have finally decided to join us!" Lieutenant Mills growled from his office door as he glared at his two detectives as they turned and looked guiltily at him.

"Sorry Lieutenant," Williams said quietly as he shrugged out of his jacket and glanced quickly at his partner who was grinning at their lieutenant like a Cheshire cat.

"Sorry we're late, Kenny, I know you said to be here by seven, but the kid here overslept this morning and I had to drag his sorry ass out of bed!" Loomings chuckled, tilting his head in the direction of his young partner as he reached up and ruffled his partner's hair, winking at his lieutenant as he teased, "I swear Lieutenant, these college kids who keep joining HPD are getting softer every day."

"And you two are getting later with handing in your paperwork every day." Mills admonished the older man, stifling the smile that twitched his lips as he saw Williams flinch at the gentle reprimand as the younger man quickly turned towards his desk.

"Just finishing the Hanson arrest report now, Lieutenant."

Mills nodded as he cocked an eye brow at Loomings as he ordered, "No, Williams, your partner's going to finish the Hanson arrest report and he better have it on my desk in an hour. I want you in my office, now!" Knowing that his orders would be followed, Mills turned and walked back to the chair behind his desk.

Swallowing hard, Danny glanced questioningly across at his partner, who shrugged and whispered, "You better hurry up and get in there, he's waiting."

Nodding silently, Danny turned and slowly walked across to his Lieutenant's office and entered, casting a quick glance at the older man who was seated in front of the Lieutenant's desk silently watching him, before he looked back at his boss. "You wanted to see me, Lieutenant?"

"Yes Danny, close the door and take a seat." Mills ordered him softly.

Steve eyed the young Vice Squad officer as Danny turned and closed the door before he walked across to take a seat in front of his lieutenant's desk. The officer had sandy curly hair, a little longer than regulation collar length, and five o'clock shadow stubble on his chin, probably the result from sleeping in and not enough time to shave this morning. Dressed in blue jeans and a faded light blue tee-shirt, Williams already looked like he would fit perfectly into the undercover role Steve had in mind for him.

"Danny, this is Mister McGarrett from Five-O," Mills began to make the introductions, wasting no time, as Danny sat down. Danny only had time to turn towards the Five-O lead detective and nod as Mills looked at Steve and rushed on, "Steve, this is the officer I've been telling you about, Danny Williams."

Steve smiled warmly as he turned to young detective sitting beside him, "Good to meet you, son."

"Thank you, Sir." Danny return a small, uncertain smile, now aware that he had been the subject of their discussion before he had been called into Mills' office but not the reason why.

Ignoring the look of confusion on his detective's face as Danny turned back to face him, Mills asked, "Danny, what do you know about the hippy commune on Kauai?"

Danny shrugged, "Not much, only that they're a group of hippies living on a property somewhere in the Haena State Park, I think the locals refer to the commune as Tomlinson's Camp."

"Anything else?" Steve asked, watching him closely.

Danny frowned, running his hand over his head, in a gesture Mills had come to recognize was a habit the younger man did when he was stressed or thinking, "Only that some guy by the name of Tomlinson, a brother of some big-time movie star, bought the property a few years ago and set up the commune and is reputed to be their guru. As far as I know the locals want them gone and there's been a few drug busts for dope, magic mushrooms and some acid…"

Steve nodded, watching the younger man closely, as he asked, "Have you ever had any contact with any of the commune members?"

Danny's frown deepened, and he slowly shook his head, "Umm, no Sir, not that I'm aware of. I mean I had a few friends who decided to buck the system and who joined a couple of communes back on the mainland… but none of them were involved with the commune set up here in Hawaii."

"You even spent some time on a commune yourself, didn't you, Danny?" Mills asked, seeing Steve's eyes widen at the question.

The younger man blushed slightly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, confused on where this conversation was going, as the Five-O officer sitting next to him seemed to be waiting for his answer. "Umm, yeah, just for a couple of weeks after I moved to Berkeley and was trying to decide about changing my major from Psychology to Police Science." A small smile slipped onto his lips as he fondly remembered those four, too short, weeks before it disappeared, and he remembered where he was. Looking at the lead Five-O detective sitting beside him, he quickly explained, "A friend of mine thought it might help me clear my mind and free my soul if I got back to nature for a while and joined him on a commune down near Los Angeles."

"And did it?"

Danny blinked in surprise at the question before he asked, confused, "Did it what?"

"Did it help you clear your mind?" Steve smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, you could say it did." Danny returned the smile before he grew serious and asked, "But excuse me Sir, what's this all about? I mean the questions about the commune and its members," before glancing across at Mills as he finished asking, "and about the time I spent in a commune?"

"Five-O is investigating the murders of six young women, all young, all have had various hallucinogenic drugs in their systems, all died from manual strangulation and all were last known to be living on-"

"The hippy commune." Danny finished Steve's sentence as he turned back to the lead five-O detective and realized the link between the murders and the lead detective's questions.

"Yes," Steve confirmed.

"But I don't understand, what does the girls' murders on Kauai have to do with me and Vice?" Danny's confusion grew.

"We suspect that the murderer may be someone within the commune, itself. We know that one of the young women, Susan Hartman, reportedly never left the commune, not even to go with the other women and children of the commune when they went into the town to grab supplies," Steve explained.

"And the members don't trust anyone who may be part of the 'Establishment' and aren't willing to co-operate." Danny nodded in understanding, "So you need someone whom they don't know from the investigation to go in and sus them out and I guess that someone might be me?"

"See, I told you the kid was bright, Steve," Mills said proudly.

Steve nodded distractedly, his eyes never leaving the young man sitting next to him, "It is, if you are willing to go undercover for me."

Running his hand over his head again, Danny quickly glanced at his proud lieutenant, who nodded encouragingly, before he looked back at McGarrett as a smile slipped back onto his lips, "Yeah, I will. A few weeks undercover on a commune sounds like fun. When do we get started?"

Steve smiled as he rose from his seat, "Right now," he announced before he stopped and looked back across at Mills, "That's if that's okay with your lieutenant?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Mills nodded before returning his attention back to his detective and ordering, "So you better get out there, Williams, and break the news to your partner that he is going to be working solo for a while."

"Yes, Sir," Danny grinned as he rose from his seat and hurried out of the office.

Unable to stop the soft chuckle from escaping as he watched the young detective's excited exit from the office, Steve turned back to his friend behind the desk and smiled, "Thanks, Kenny."

Mills nodded, his eyes lingering on the young detective who was now talking excitedly to his partner in the bullpen before he looked back at Steve, "Just remember Steve, he's one of my guys, and I want him back in one piece when he's finished, so watch his back for me."

"You know I will," Steve reassured his friend before he turned and walked out into the bullpen.

"I hope so, Steve," Mills murmured softly to himself as he watched Danny look up from his conversation with Matt and nod as Steve spoke and lightly patted him on the shoulder as he walked past. "I really hope so," Kenny sighed again as his newest and youngest detective snagged his denim jacket from the back of his chair before following McGarrett out of the bullpen.


	2. Chapter 2

Nearing the town limits of the small town of Halehomaha , Steve felt his hands tighten around the steering wheel as his anxiety level began to rise and he found himself wondering if sending the young man beside him undercover was such a good idea after all, that maybe there was another way they could proceed. He sighed softly, aware that this was probably the only option left to them to investigate this case and bring in a killer before he could kill again.

The case, so far, had yield little leads and their knowledge about the commune’s activities, although extensive, was also extremely biased supplied to Five-O by local police officers who wanted the commune gone.

So far, their own investigation had uncovered that the commune had established by the group’s guru, Adrian Tomlinson, a brother of the famous Hollywood actress, Elizabeth Tomlinson, in January 1968. After Tomlinson had bought the beachside property at the end of the Kuhio Highway and backed into the government owned Haena State park, his dreams of building his dream home had been dashed by local government officials who had refused to issue him the had building permits to build his home.

Frustrated and angry that he could not even build his home on the property he owned, Tomlinson had decided to get his own back on the bureaucratic officers who stood in his way and had gone down to the local jail and had bailed out thirteen hippies who had been arrested for vagrancy and much to the annoyance and anger of the local officials and police, had invited them to set up their tents and live on his property for free. Eventually the tents had been replaced by crude multi-story tree houses that were precariously balanced on think bamboo stilts.

 In the last two years the small camp had evolved into a hippy commune that had spread over seven acres encompassing both the sandy beach and the surrounding jungle, where hippies, families, war veterans and runaways could live in peace and love together, where joints were the smoke of choice, where clothing was optional, and where people could, and it was reported by the local police, did, quite regularly howl at the moon at night.  “A real utopia, for drop outs, drug addicts, surfers, Vietnam war veterans and deserters, who don’t want to be useful members of society anymore,” the Kauai County police chief had sarcastically described the members of the commune when talking to Steve over the phone.

Although the group’s membership appeared to be fluid, with young members joining and others leaving, searching for whatever they were looking for somewhere else, background checks on the core members of the commune had also proved fruitless. Although a couple of the members had police records ranging from minor charges for drug possession or charges relating to their involvements in various protests both against the war in Vietnam to the demands to change society, no one had any records for the type of violence that had been inflicted on the victims.

The victims! Steve felt his heart race as he cast a quick glance at the young detective sitting beside him, looking out of the window. The murdered body of a young man from the commune had been found just hours before-  so badly beaten that almost every bone in his face had been broken and he was so unrecognizable he was only able to be identified by fingerprints taken when he had a minor drug bust rap a year before. His body, like those of the six young women, had been found floating in the ocean a few miles south of the small commune.

Uncertain of why the murderer had suddenly changed his M.O. and had now murdered a man, or if there had been previous male victims whom they had been unaware of because, unlike the bodies of the young women whose bodies had been found floating in the ocean or washed up along the shore, their bodies had been washed out to sea, had Steve worried. The undercover case had now taken a dangerous turn and the two days of setting up a viable cover and preparing Danny for going undercover no longer seemed like enough time to get him fully into the role he would have to pull off, but time was against them.

“Okay, let’s go through your cover story one last time.” Steve ordered gruffly, casting another quick glance towards his passenger as they entered Halehomaha and cruised through the small town, past Kono, who was parked in an old beaten up farming truck across the road from a row of small tired looking shops, watching a small group of hippies as they entered one of the grocery shops. 

If Danny recognized the Five-O detective, who had helped him learn his role for this undercover stint, sitting in the old truck across from the shops, he never showed it as he turned back towards Steve and quickly slipped into his undercover persona, “My name is Danny Roberts. I’m from Denver, Colorado, my mom and dad still live there, as well as my younger sister, but I couldn’t take living by their establishment rules anymore, so I decided it was time for me to pack my bags and hit the road.”

“So why Hawaii?” Steve asked as he returned his attention back to the road and continued down the highway, leaving the small town behind them.

“Why not Hawaii?” Danny shrugged nonchalantly before he frowned in annoyance and asked, “Look man, why all the questions? I’m just lookin’ for somewhere to chill for a while. Maybe find my own little piece of Nirvana,” before he grinned, cheekily, “or maybe even a foxy lady or two…” 

Steve nodded as he looked at Danny again, who seemed quite relaxed with going undercover. Dressed in an old pair of jeans, a red tee-shirt and a faded blue denim jacket which had several different patches roughly hand sown on the front of the jacket and a large white peace sign painted on the back and with his shaggy hair that spilled over the jacket’s collar, Danny looked every part of a young man who wanted to drop out of society. “Both Kono and myself will be staying at the Best Western Hotel. We’ll be staying in town to investigate the latest murder and so we can keep a bit of an eye on you. So, I want you to report in, daily, Kono will meet you at the south end of the beach every evening about six.”

Danny frowned, “I’m not sure I-”

“I mean it, Detective, I want you to report in daily to Kono, no excuses…” Steve reiterated sternly as the radio suddenly crackled to life. Snatching up the mic as he returned his attention back to the road, Steve depressed the mic’s button and snapped, “Five-O 1.”

_“Steve, it’s Kono, they have just left the grocery shop and are headed your way. I’ll give them a couple of minutes to get ahead before I follow.”_

“Thanks, Kono,” Steve answered, glancing down at the mileage, “We’re about two miles west of town. Just make sure you stay back far enough not to draw any attention.”

_“Will do.”_

Snagging the mic back down on its hook, Steve turned onto a small dirt track and parked behind a line of trees that helped to block sight of the car from any one driving along the main road.

Turning off the engine, he turned quickly to face Danny as Danny reached back to snag the rucksack from the back seat. “Listen Danny, I want you to be careful and don’t take any unnecessary chances. We still don’t know who we are dealing with.”

“I won’t.” Danny promised as he turned and reached for the door handle.

Grabbing Danny’s arm, momentarily halting his egress from the vehicle, Steve waited until the young man turned back and looked at him questioningly before he added firmly, “I just want you to know that Kono and I will have your back as much as we can.”

Danny smiled and nodded as he climbed out of the car, “I know, Sir.”

“And I will pull you out at the first sign of trouble.” Steve added as Danny slung the rucksack over his shoulder, adjusting it until it was comfortable to carry.

“I know that, too.” Danny smiled before he turned and headed through the tree line back towards the main road, giving Steve a confident wave of his hand as he called out over his shoulder, “Catch you later, man.”

Steve nodded, his brow creasing with worry, as he watched Danny, through the tree line, reach the edge of the main road and begin to walk in the direction of the park. Holding his breath as he heard the Kombi van approaching in the distance, he never took his eyes of the young detective as Danny turned back in the direction of the approaching van and held out his thumb. He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest as the van belonging to the commune members’, who had just left town, slowed down and pulled over before Danny approached the van and spoke to the occupants before climbing in.

He released his breath in a soft whoosh of relief as the van drove away, followed a minute or two later by Kono’s pick-up truck. He had not been sure that the plan Williams had suggested, while working out how he could infiltrate the commune, of being picked up hitchhiking by the commune members after they had finished their weekly shopping trip into Halehomaha would really work. Now all he could do was wait and see if the young Vice officer would be welcome into the commune.

* * *

Reaching the roads edge, Danny turned as he heard the van approaching, before he put his thumb out and continued to walk backwards as the battered, old blue Kombi came over the crest of the hill. Dropping his hand as the van rolled to a gentle stop just in front of him, he jogged the few steps to the side of the van as the passenger window wound down and the young man sitting in the front passenger seat asked, "Where are you headed?"

Looking up to get a better look at the passenger, Danny shrugged and smiled, "Where ever the wind blows me, man."

"Hop in," the passenger invited as the rear door opened, revealing several young people sitting in the rear of the van.

"Thanks," Danny grinned as the sweet, pungent odor of marijuana smoke wafted out of the van. Shrugging his rucksack off his shoulder, he tossed it inside before clambering in himself as two of the passengers smiled up at him and moved apart to make room for him to sit as the door slammed closed behind him. He only had enough time to cross to the over side of the van and attempt to sit down before the van started with a loud, smoky backfire and a hard jolt, causing him to fall against the young man next to him. "Sorry," he apologized as he quickly sat up and leaned back against the van's wall.

"Hey, it's cool man," the other man grinned as he shuffled side wards a little to give Danny a little more room to get comfortable as he introduced himself, "I'm Noah. And this is Sunshine." The young girl sitting beside him raised her hand in a friendly wave as he continued the introductions over the loud roar of the van's engine, nodding in the direction of each of the other five people sitting in the rear of the van, "Tommy, Angel, Savannah, Bulldog and the guy sitting over there, not sharing, is River."

Taking a large drag on the joint he held to his lips, River raised his hand in a welcome wave before he lowered the joint and released his breath in a large plume of white smoke. "Up yours, Noah," he grinned as he tapped the back of the front passenger seat and passed the joint to the front seat passenger as the young man in the front passenger seat swivelled the seat around to face them.

Accepting the joint, he took a large drag, momentarily closing his eyes and holding his breath, enjoying the initial effects of the drug as it entered his lungs before he re-opened eyes and released his breath, allowing the smoke to escape as he spoke, "I'm Lucas," Tapping the driver's shoulder and offering him the joint, shaking his head when the driver shook his head 'No' and looked up into the rear vision mirror. Lucas shrugged, cocking his head in the driver's direction before handing the joint across to Sunshine as he spoke, "And tall, dark and sullen here is Marcus."

Sunshine giggled as she accepted the joint, taking it delicately between her thumb and forefinger before putting it up to her lips and taking a puff before handing what was left to Danny.

"I'm Danny," Danny smiled, juggling the small sliver of the joint between his fingers in an attempt to stop it from burning his fingers as he tried to keep his balance as the van bounced over the rough road.

"So, where are you headed, man?"

Danny shrugged, before taking a small drag on the remnants of the joint that he had been handed. Slowly releasing the mouthful of smoke, he relaxed back against the van wall, passing what was left of the joint back to Noah, who was watching him closely, before he closed his eyes and answered, "Where ever, man, just as long as I'm free."

Accepting the fingernail length sliver of tobacco paper that contained just the last couple of shreds of marijuana leaves, Noah grinned as he looked at Danny before he looked across at Lucas, who nodded his approval, "Hey Dude, if you wanna opt out of the man's rules and chill out for a while without the establishment breathin' down ya neck, you're more than welcome to hang with us."

Opening one eye, Danny looked at Noah, "You mean like in sort of commune?"

Noah nodded, his grin never fading, "Yeah."

"Cool!" Danny grinned, opening both his eyes and sitting up a little straighter, as Sunshine slipped her hand into his and gave it a small, excited squeeze.

* * *

 

Staying as far back as he dared, without losing sight of the van traveling in front of him, Kono cursed as the pick-up bounced over another large bump in the uneven dirt road and his head slammed against the roof of the pick-up. Easing his foot slightly off the accelerator, he tried to steer, unsuccessfully, around the next large pothole, cursing again as his head hit the side window and the van containing the young Vice officer and the group of hippies whom they were investigating disappeared from his sight around a distant curve.

Slowing down and stopping, aware that he was not far from the even narrower dead-end road the led into the commune, Kono watched the Kombi in the distance disappear momentarily around the next corner before he saw through the screen of trees between them glimpses of the kombi as it slowed down and began to traverse down the narrow road.

Watching the kombi disappear along the road and out of sight, Kono reached for his mic. Depressing the mic button, he called. "Five-O 2 to Five-O 1."

Steve responded almost immediately leaving Kono with no doubts that Steve had been waiting anxiously for his radio call as he heard Steve's reply of,  _'Five-O 1.'_

"Looks like he's in, Steve, they have just arrived back to the commune."

He waited for a moment for Steve's reply of,  _'Okay Kono, it's up to Williams now, let's meet back up at the hotel.'_

Glancing back in the direction of the commune before he placed the pick-up into reverse, to reverse backwards until he could find a suitable place to turn the pick-up around, Kono depressed the mic's button again and answered slowly, "Okay Steve, will do."

 


	3. Chapter 3

Pulling up in the front of a crudely built treehouse, Markus turned off the ignition key, killing the engine before he turned and watched as River stood up as and opened the rear door, and the van's rear occupants all began to scramble out. His eyes linger for a minute on the young man whom they had just picked up as Danny followed the others out and now stood uncertainly next to the van, looking around, before he climbed out of the van, himself, and walked around the van to stand join to Lucas.

"How about we start getting some of these supplies put away," Lucas smiled as the van's passengers began to remove the supplies they had bought in town from the back of the van. "And Sunshine, why don't you take Danny and show him his new digs, help him get settled in, and then show him around."

"Sweet," Sunshine grinned as she grabbed Danny's hand and began to drag him towards the narrow path that lead to one of the empty treehouses built in the thick forest canopy as she announced excitedly, "Come on, Danny, you heard the Man, let's get you settled …"

Shaking his head in amusement as he watched Sunshine pull Danny down the path, Lucas heard a soft, guttural growl from the man who was now standing beside him. Turning back to look the angry man standing beside him, Lucas placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder as he gently rebuked the upset man, "Hey Dude, I think you need to take a chill pill. I know you think that Sunshine is one hot mama but here's the skinny, brother, the last time I checked, she ain't your ol' lady. You keep actin' like some la la every time she talks to or even looks at another dude, you're goin' scare her away and she goin' run, just like Linda." He turned to watch Sunshine as she and Danny disappeared into the rainforest, before he returned his attention back to the large man standing next to him who had been watching their every move. Slapping Marcus on the shoulder, he continued gently, "So man, if ya want my advice, just forget Sunshine and who she is trying to hook up with, we have more important things to worry about right now." He waited until he had Marcus's attention again before he asked, "Did you notice the red pick-up truck?"

"Yeah, the one that sat way back and tailed us all the way back from town. I figured it was just the fuzz, probably looking for a reason to pull another raid." Marcus as they started walking towards the treehouse before he looked sideways at his friend and asked, "What about it?"

"I don't know, but I've got some bad vibes about it," Lucas answered slowly as he glanced back over his shoulder towards the empty road just beyond the commune grounds.

"What sort of bad vibes, Dude?" Marcus frowned, as he stopped walking and turned to face Lucas.

Lucas quickly looked around to ensure no one else could eavesdrop into their conversation before he answered softly, "I told you, man, I don't know, but I got the lowdown that there are a couple of Honolulu cops in town. And not just flatfoots, they're Five-O, the top cops on the islands and they have been asking questions about the commune."

"Five-O? Why would they be interested in us?" Marcus frowned nervously, quickly looking around.

"Dude, it's the Man! They ask questions." Lucas sighed as he began to walk slowly towards one of the treehouses, "And they are asking questions about commune and about Linda, Angel, and some of the other girls who have left."

"Linda?" Markus suddenly stopped walking and quickly turned his head to look at Lucas, snapping. "What about Linda?"

"Hey chill out, man, just chill out." Lucas hissed softly as he roughly grabbed Markus's arm to make sure he had the other man's full attention, "All I know is they are asking questions in town if anyone knows the girls or about the time they spent in the commune or when was the last time anyone saw them around. We both know Linda's a run-away, I'm betting her oldies freaked out, maybe all the girls' oldies freak out, when they found out the girls were living on a commune and decided to send in the national guard. There's no need to freak out, not yet. The fuzz knows jack squat about our little side business and I intend to keep it like that, so until the heats off, all deals are off until I say otherwise."

Markus gave a single tight nod as he looked over Lucas's shoulder and watched as Sunshine and Danny emerged from the forest. He was unable to stop another annoyed growl from escaping as he noticed that Sunshine was still leading Danny by the hand as they reached the clearing.

Smiling brightly as she reached the two men, Sunshine announced, "I'm just going to show Danny around a little more before lunch. Oh, and Nancy said to tell you, lunch will be ready in about half an hour. She wants you to know she's cooking your favorite," Sunshine's nose wrinkled up a little as she continued with the message she had been asked to pass on, "her famous chicken stew and dumplings."

Smiling as he watched the young couple walk past, Lucas nodded, "Awesome."

"It is, if you like eating dry chicken leather and rocks," Sunshine giggled as she wrapped Danny's arm around her shoulders, whispering something to the young man she was showing around that Lucas could not catch before she peeked back over her shoulder to see if Markus was watching her.

Glancing at the man standing beside him, Lucas could see the angry flash of jealousy on Markus's face as he watched Sunshine snuggle closer to Danny as she led him away. Lightly grabbing the other man's arm, Lucas guided him towards the large treehouse that overlooked the clearing as he said softly, "Ignore her, bro, we both know she is a tease."

Markus sighed and nodded as he followed Lucas inside, "What do you want to do about him?"

"Who? Danny?" Lucas frowned as they reached the ladder.

"Yeah," Markus nodded. "Don't you think it's a bit funky that he turns up when the fuzz is about asking questions?"

"No, not really, lots of kids like him show up, here looking for Nirvana, he's just another one. Besides, man, think about it, he was hitchhiking, there's no way he could have planned that we would pick him up and bring him here." Seeing his mistrust of Danny, clearly written across Markus's face, and suspecting the mistrust had to do more with Sunshine's flirting with the younger man, than the possibility that Danny was not who he claimed to be, Lucas reluctantly agreed, "But if it makes you feel any better, than get one of the guys to keep a close eye on him. Now come on, Adrian is going to want to know what's going on."

* * *

After lightly knocking on the motel door, Hawkins tucked the file he was holding under his arm before he quickly adjusted his utility belt around his ample waist and ran his fingers across his head, in a vain but futile attempt to cover the growing bald patch on the top of his head with a few thin grey wisps of his remaining hair. Grabbing the file from beneath his arm, he raised his hand to knock again but before he could, the door opened, and he found himself about to knock on the chest of the lead Five-O detective.

Quickly dropping his hand, he stepped past Steve and entered the room, glancing across at the several files that were scattered across one of the beds. "I thought that you might want to see this as soon as it landed on my desk," he announced as he turned back towards Steve who had closed the door behind him and handed him the file, "It's your coroner's report and all the info we were able to collect on our latest victim, David Cummins. The coroner's report says that cause of death was a combination of blunt force trauma and a drug overdose, from what you told me about the state of the body, there's no real surprise there."

Steve opened the file that the police chief had handed him at the door and found himself staring at the face of a young man who looked not much older than the young detective whom he had sent undercover into the commune. Looking back up at Hawkins, he watched Hawkins walk across to the small bench that lined on side of the room and picked up one of the coffee mugs, sitting beside a pot of coffee, and held it up at Steve.

Steve nodded before he glanced down at the photo again and asked, "Did you know him?"

"I thought I did, he was one of our local kids, grew up right here in town. But I guess I only knew him about as well as I know any of those kids who live on the commune, I suppose," the chief shrugged as he grabbed a second mug and poured coffee into both, before adding sugar and cream, and handing one of the mugs to Steve. Picking up the second mug, he sat down on the empty bed and held the mug between his hands as he continued, "He up and left town in the middle of the night about seven or eight years ago, he must have been about fifteen or sixteen when he ran. I'm not sure just why he ran but if I had to guess, I would say he was running to get away from his father, not that I can blame the kid."

"His father?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, John Cummins, one of our locals, moved to town just after his wife died of cancer, only a few short months after David was born. John loved that boy, raised him all on his own. He wanted the best for David, and I guess that's why he pushed the kid so hard to do his best and be the best at everything and if he didn't, well…" The police chief's voice trailed off as he stared down into his coffee before he took a large breath and looked back at Steve and quietly admitted, "I wasn't surprised when David ran like he did, I knew straight away when his father reported him missing, the reason why he ran. Hell, everyone in the town knew why. But after that John was a broken man, took to drinking, probably to drown his guilt, not that anyone around here could blame him. He loved that kid with all his heart and he had driven David away. Then about a year ago, John got drunk and crashed his car into a tree. Officially, our investigation found what happened was just a tragic accident, but unofficially, I knew -"

"It was suicide." Steve breathed.

"Yeah, but I never realized just how strained things must have gotten between the two of them until David didn't even come back for his father's funeral. He first showed back up about six months ago, at least, that's when I first noticed him coming into town with the other members of the commune. Except, when he came back, he was using the hippy name, Phoenix, you know like the mythical bird that rose from the ashes."

Sitting down on the edge of the other bed, Steve nodded as he took a small sip of coffee.

"I remember thinking that he probably thought that by joining the commune, he had been reborn or something, but who knows with these kids today, all they seem to be interested in is 'free loving', protesting or getting high. Leaves you wondering just what this world is coming to." Hawkins shook his head in a mixture of bewilderment and disgust, before he sighed, "You know that a few years ago, Halehomaha was a real nice, family friendly town." He paused as the door to the room opened and Kono stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him. Nodding a quick greeting to the large Hawaiian Five-O detective, Hawkins looked back at Steve "But that was all before Tomlinson bought his property and set up his hippy commune."

Steve paused as from taking another sip of coffee, lowering the cup back down, watching the police chief closely as he asked, "Has the commune been causing problems?"

"Since the very first day Tomlinson decided to bail those sixteen damn hippies out of my jail and set a Goddamn commune on his land." Hawkins growled, his hand tightening around the mug so hard that his knuckles turned white as he spat out contemptuously, "You know Steve, the Governor was right when he said that hippies are nothing more than a bunch of Tarzans, who have hair like Jane and smells like Cheetah, except the bunch of wanna-be drugged up, tuned out Tarzans living on Tomlinson's commune don't believe in wearing clothes, howl at the moon and believe in so called 'free-love'. They are nothing more than a bunch of wild animals. And just like wild animals they have started killing each other,

Now, not only do I have a bunch of drug addled hippies growing their drugs and living off welfare to deal with, but now I also have the bodies floating in the ocean or being washed up on the beaches to deal with. Since Tomlinson and these damn hippies have shown up, I now not only a damn murderer running around, but also several of our local hotheads who heard about the murders are now talking about getting an old fashion posse together and running the hippies out of town." Hawkins sighed again and rubbed a hand over the five o'clock stubble that was growing on his chin as he looked across at Kono before returning his attention back to Steve and admitting his greatest fear, "To be perfectly honest, I am fed up and I feel like I am sitting on a powder keg, Steve, and just one little spark will set it off and if word gets out that David was the latest victim…"

"Do you think there could be trouble?" Kono asked, casting a quick worried glance at Steve before looking back at the Halehomaha police chief as Bob Hawkins pushed himself off the bed with one hand and slowly rose to his feet.

"I hope not, but I have one of my boys keeping a close eye on things." Placing the empty mug back on the bench, Hawkins adjusted his utility belt again in an attempt to get it to sit comfortably around his waist and headed towards the door, "I better get going, one of my boys called in sick, so we are a little short-handed today, but I'll keep you updated if anything happens."

"Thanks, Bob," Steve smiled cordially, consciously keeping the disdain he felt towards the older man's attitude from showing on his face, as the chief waved his hand before pulling the door opened the door and going outside.

Waiting until the door closed behind the police chief, Kono turned and looked at Steve, "Do you think there's going to be trouble, Boss?"

Steve shook his head as he stared at the closed door, and sighed worriedly, regretting sending the young officer undercover in what was becoming a far more dangerous situation than he had ever imagined, as he breathed softly, "I hope not."


End file.
